Smallpox (vaccine-preventable)

Smallpox was an acute, contagious, and often fatal disease caused by the variola (vǝ-rῙ’- ǝ-lǝ) virus (an orthopoxvirus), and marked by fever and a distinctive, progressive skin rash. In 1980, the disease was declared eradicated following worldwide vaccination programs. The last case of smallpox in the United States was in 1949. The last naturally occurring case in the world was in Somalia in 1977. After the disease was declared eradicated, routine vaccination against smallpox among the general public was deemed no longer necessary and stopped.